


just like old times

by i_think_we_might_be_alright



Series: White Collar and the Olympians [2]
Category: Percy Jackson & The Olympians (Movies), Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, White Collar (TV 2009)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-14 19:21:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28800501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/i_think_we_might_be_alright/pseuds/i_think_we_might_be_alright
Summary: a few years have passed since Peter found out Neal was a Demigod. A god is after Neal and Peter is left alone in New York, unable to do anything while Neal faces the vengeance of Hades.
Relationships: Elizabeth Burke/Peter Burke, Neal Caffrey & Mozzie, Peter Burke & Mozzie, Peter Burke & Neal Caffrey
Series: White Collar and the Olympians [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2141457
Kudos: 7
Collections: White Collar meets Percy Jackson





	1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Neal was late, it was a Wednesday and Neal was late. Neal was never late. If it was a Monday, he probably would have given Neal some slack, but it was the middle of the week and something in the back of Peter’s head said there was a reason he was late today and it wasn’t a good one. Peter pulled up Neal’s tracking data, the blinking red dot showed Neal at his apartment. Peter picked up his cell, dialing Neal’s number he sat back in his chair, eyes locked on the map in front of him.

Peter called 3 times before finally an answer.

“Neal..” Peter was cut off

“sorry suit, Neal can’t really come to the phone right now” There were muffled voices arguing in the background, “he’ll call you later today?” Mozzie ended, his voice left an implied question hanging in the air. Peter didn’t really know what to say, to that so he settled on “Mozzie, is everything okay?” “we got everything handled Peter, Neal will call you later.” The phone clicked off.

Mozzie had called him Peter, something was definitely wrong. Peter grabbed his jacket and headed towards Neal’s.

…

Peter stood outside Neal’s door, hand on his gun under his suit jacket. He listened through the door. There were muffled voices that suddenly stopped when he tried to hear what they were saying. The silence was defining. Then he heard Neal speak up, “Guys, lower your swords. Its Peter.”

The door swung open to show Neal, he didn’t look good. He had a bruise developing on his cheek several scrapes up his arm and his shirt had too much blood to be his own. Behind him stood Mozzie, glass of wine in hand, along with Percy, Annabeth, and another man who looked about the same age as Neal. _This can’t be good._ Peter thought, _Neal clearly fought something recently and Percy and Annabeth were in town?_ _Neal is in trouble._

“Peter, hey!” Peter could hear Neal’s voice quiver, tho he could tell Neal was trying to hide it, “you shouldn’t be here”.

Peter shook his head in reply, “something is wrong, I can tell. Tell me, maybe I can help.”

Neal just looked down and shook his head.

The mystery man took a few steps forward, he placed a hand on Neal’s back before he spoke.

“I.. We have a battle on the horizon, a battle between my father and myself.”

Neal cut him off, turning towards him in almost a whisper said “it’s not your fault, it’s his.” Neal’s voice cracked. They mystery man’s face frowned and he pulled Neal into a hug. Neal embraced him, like it was second nature. Neal had silent tears running down his cheeks, “I just got you back…..” he took a breath in, composing himself, “he can’t take you away again”

The mystery man didn’t reply but instead tightened his grip on Peter’s partner and buried his face into Neal’s shoulder.

Percy, who Peter honestly had forgotten was in the room, took a step forward.   
“Dom, Neal, we need to make a plan.”

Peters eyes doubled in size, “Dom!” He felt like it was a shout cause everyone looked at him, “I thought you died when you were kids…” He can’t wrap is head around this, “this isn’t possible”

Neal, still had his arms around Dom but had turned away enough that Peter could see his face, “Peter, its him, its rare but its him” He turned back, eyes drinking in every feature of Dom’s face. Dom, who was slightly taller than Neal, looked down doing the same thing.

Dom maneuvered one hand off of Neal and outstretched it in Peter’s direction.

“Dominic Richard Harrison, son of Hades. Thank you for taking care of Neal when I couldn’t”

Peter shook his hand; he had a strong grip.

“h..” Peter had to clear his throat. “How is this possible, Neal told me you died?”

A small smile edged its way onto Dom’s lips, “well, technically I did die. But my father, he is king of the underworld, and he made the _executive_ _decision_ not to send me across the river Styx. This means I was dead as far as I wasn’t on this Earth anymore, but not as dead that I couldn’t come back. So, I bid my time, didn’t eat anything” Neal and Percy chuckled at this comment, Peter didn’t get it “and eventually I was able to get out” Dom kinda shrugged, “the details are messy and not really important, but what you need to know is that my dad is kinda pissed and is sending monsters after Neal and I as a form of punishment. Neal trusts you and I know that you are important to him. You helped him build a life here. We don’t expect you to fight, but can you help us stall long enough to figure out what to do.”

Peter didn’t really know how to reply, he looked down at the floor trying to wrap his head around the fact that Dom was dead, but _not that dead_ whatever that meant. He looked up when Neal spoke.

“Peter, please.”

“Neal, I don’t know how to help, but yes. I want you to be safe here in New York. Tell me how you need me to stall for you?”

Percy stepped forward, “We don’t have an exact plan yet. Hades is sending his monsters after them, we need to take Neal and Dom somewhere safe while we try to contact him. Long enough that Dom can work out a similar deal to Persephone.”

Dom nodded in agreement, “there is no way my dad lets me stay here as if nothing had happened, but he has made exceptions before. He wants me to be happy, he just doesn’t understand that my standards for happiness aren’t ruling by his side.”

Percy continued, “Peter, can you cover for Neal in your world for a few days?”

“Yes, but his tracking anklet, I can’t take it off without raising flags.”

Mozzie spoke up from the corner, “don’t worry about that suit, I made a devise that manipulates his tracking data. Once we turn it on the signal will loop until we turn it off, make it look like he is here the whole time.”

Peter was speechless, “tha.. how..” he looked to Neal, “I’ll deal with that later, that’s not okay. ”

Neal only shrugged, “can you cover for me with the FBI?”

Peter sighed, “ya, but only for a week or so. Then people will start asking questions.”

“Thank you, Peter, really. I know you are putting your neck on the line for me, for us, I really appreciate it. “

Peter nodded, “where will you go?”

Neal looked to Percy, “well go hang out with my father, the sea will add an extra layer of protection. From there we will extend an invite to Hades. Its customary for gods to visit each other without weapons or monsters, so hopefully Hades follows those customs… at least long enough for Dom to propose our compromise.”

“and if he doesn’t?” Peter felt like everyone else knew the answer,

Neal spoke up “if he doesn’t, he’ll bring his monsters with him and well have to fight.” He looked up at Dom, “I can’t lose you again.”

Dom knew there was no reasoning with Neal at this point, not after all these years, “hopefully it won’t come down to that.”

There was a heavy silence in the room, everyone knew that if their plan didn’t work, they would all be in the underworld soon and not as Hades’ guests.

Annabeth spoke to break the silence, “we should go.” They all nodded in agreement. Mozzie flipped a switch, “I’ll stay here and make cover for you to June.”

Neal walked across the room, “Thanks Mozz, I’ll see you soon.” He turned to Peter, “You too Peter, thanks for everything.”

Peter shook his head, “you have a one week, make it count.”

Neal grabbed a clean shirt and the 4 demigods were gone leaving Peter and Mozzie to carry on as if nothing was wrong, but not knowing if they would ever see Neal again.


	2. chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Neal always secretly liked having a reason to go to Poseidon’s castle. It was amazing to be under the water, able to breath, and be surrounded by fish. The fish always came to greet Percy and were curious of the friends he brought, Neal couldn’t help but laugh as they tickled his arms swimming around him. He looked over at Dom, who was playing with a small red fish by moving his hand around in a figure eight. This, this right here, a seemingly simple interaction with Dom, this is what Neal was fighting to get back. Yes, he was proud of the life he had built with Peter and without the gods, but he still missed Dom every day. If he could somehow keep his life in New York, but share it with Dom he would be the luckiest man in the world, with a tracking anklet.

The gang made their way through the water, Percy leading the way. They finally made it to the bottom and there it was, shining through the dark water. It was just as beautiful as Neal remembered; flecks of gold light sprinkled the water around it and fish floated in and out of the openings. Poseidon appeared, wearing a yellow Hawaiian shirt, and opened the gate.

As they swam through the gate their clothes dried and they were left standing in a reverse snow globe under the sea. Poseidon always adapted his home when Percy brought his friends, one of the few accommodating gods left Neal thought to himself.

“Son”, Poseidon’s voice boomed, he embraced Percy. Percy laughed, “Dad! good to see you”

“You know you don’t have to wait for a life-threatening quest to come up to visit me”

“I know, I’m sorry. You know life up there, it gets kinda crazy.”

Poseidon laughed at that but didn’t seem mad, “so you’ve gotten yourself into quite the pickle I see” he looked over at Dom.

Dom stepped forward, “yes, we are very thankful for the safe haven”

Poseidon nodded, “I never understood this whole _hunting your children_ thing. They are either your friend, “he winked at Percy, “or you leave them alone. You are all adults and should be able to make these decisions for yourself. I hope we can reason with my brother.”

…

Peter hated not knowing what was going on. He still had Neal’s tracking data pulled up, the red dot unmoving sense Mozzie flipped the switch. He told the team Neal had the flu and would be out till next wek. Nobody asked any questions, but Peter knew Dianna could tell he was lying. Dianna was the only other person at the FBI who knew about Neal’s past. She also knew that something like the flu wouldn’t affect Neal enough to need a week off.

When the team had their assignments and Peter was alone in his office Dianna knocked on his door.   
“Hey Boss, have a sec?”  
“course”

She walked in and closed the door, “Neal doesn’t have the flu, does he.” It wasn’t a question. It was a statement. Peter knew there was no use denying it, “no, he doesn’t have the flu” he frowned as Dianna sat on the other side of his desk.

“What can I do to help”

“Nothing, all they’re having me do is cover for him here. They are under the ocean with Percy’s dad right now”

“Woow,” Dianna cracked a grin, “that’s cool, but why are they there?”

“It’s a long story, but Hades is after Neal and Dom..”  
“Dom?” Dianna couldn’t suppress her shock at that name, “as in Neal’s dead best friend?”

“The very one, turns out he has been stuck in the underworld this entire time but wasn’t fully dead?” Peter shook his head, “I don’t understand it either, but Dom’s dad is mad that he left so he’s after Neal and Dom. He blames Neal for Dom leaving the underworld. They are at Percy’s dad’s place in the hopes of meeting on neutral fround and striking some kind of deal with Hades, they mentioned some name Persfy or something?”  
Dianna cut in, “you mean Persephone?”

“Ya! how do you know that name?”  
Dianna laughed, “Peter that’s Greek Methodology 101!”

Peter made no indication that he knew what she was talking about so she continued, “Persephone was the daughter of Demeter, goddess of grain. Persephone wondered off one day and found her way into the underworld. There Hades tricked her into eating pomegranate seeds, once you eat in the underworld apparently you have to stay there. Demeter was so upset that she had lost her daughter that nothing grew. It was supposedly the first winter. So, Zeus apparently made Hades strike a deal that Persephone would split her time between the underworld and earth based on how many pomegranates seeds she ate, each seed was one month in the underworld. It was the Greeks’ explanation for the seasons. Peter, I’m surprised you didn’t read up on Greek Mythology after Neal told us the truth.”

“There is a lot to read, I didn’t get through it all yet, but that actually makes sense.”

“what do you mean?”  
“Dom made the comment that he hadn’t eaten anything while in the underworld, and they said they didn’t expect Hades to just let Dom go, but they are hoping for some sort of compromise like Persephone. They are trying to keep Dom out of the underworld at least part time.”

Dianna tried but couldn’t hide her excitement, “I just can’t believe this is all real, if someone was listening to us right now, they would think we’ve gone nuts,” she laughed.

Peter was too stressed to laugh.


	3. chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

3 days had passed since they sent their invitation to Hades. None of them could sit still. Percy had been out everyday doing patrols of the nearby sea with dolphins. Neal was jealous that Percy could swim with them, another perk of being the son of the sea god. Neal stayed inside the bubble with Dom, they’ve been insertable since they had arrived under the sea. Neal didn’t want to miss a second with Dom, he didn’t know how long they would have together. They caught up on everything that had happened in the last 20 or so years. Which was a lot to unpack on both sides, Dom disclosed that he had checked in on Neal on and off over the years. He said he was happy when he saw Neal had Kate and expressed his sadness that Neal had lost her. Neal wanted to ask if Dom talked to Kate when she made it to the underworld, but he was too scared of what she might have told him.

They were sitting on the evening of the 4th day, eating a weird seaweed dish that was apparently Percy’s favorite. Neal thought it had a weird texture but he kept that too himself. He could deal with some weird food if it meant staying safe with Dom a few days longer. Hermes was suddenly in the doorway, a little out of breath. “Poseidon, where is my brother Poseidon?”

Poseidon appeared on the other end of the dinning hall, “what is it Hermes, do you have a message from our brother Hades?”

Hermes had to pause to catch his breath, “yes, sorry. I hate that I have to swim here.” He took another big breath of air. “He will be here tomorrow at sun set. He will come alone, but he said nothing else.”

“Thank you, brother.”

Hermes gave a little nod, he looked at Dom, “Good luck,” before he dashed away.

The gang shared worried looks, “alright” Percy spoke first, “everybody gets some rest, we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow.”

Everybody stayed silent as they slowly made their way to their rooms for the night, potentially their last night together.

Neal and Dom had been sharing a room, not wanting to waste a moment together.

Dom closed the door behind Neal. Neal turned around to see Dom, hands covering his face. He sunk to the floor, “I’m sorry all this is happening, I wanted to be apart of your life again, but I don’t want to be the reason you lose everything”

Neal walked back over to him directing him towards the seashell bed in the middle of the room, “you have nothing to apologize for. This last week, although crazy, has been worth is.” Dom looked up, he didn’t believe him, Neal continued “all these years I’ve wondered if you were really gone with who your dad is and all,” a small smile danced on Dom’s lips with this statement, “when the 10-year mark hit, I kinda gave up hope. Then I met Kate and I thought that was it for me.” Neal grew quiet, Dom spoke next, “you and Kate, you had a few years when I thought she was the one for you, and I wouldn’t have to worry any more. Then Adler came in and … well I worried again.” Neal looked up and met Dom’s eyes. “It’s me and you again, against the real world, “

“Just like old times”

“Just like old times” Neal echoed quietly.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

It was Sunday evening; Peter didn’t expect this to take this long. As he sits at the kitchen table, he realizes the doesn’t really know what he was expecting, Neal to step off the elevator tomorrow morning like it was a regular Monday? He was so deep in thought he didn’t even realized Elizabeth had come downstairs, she set a cup of decaf coffee in front of him and was now sitting on the couch to turn on the nightly news. He would have stayed deep in his own thoughts if El hadn’t pulled him out.

“Hon, something is happening. It has to be Neal.”

Peter was immediately up and practically running to the television, a young news reporter was standing on a doc, wind blowing his hair and rain pelting his face: _What we are experiencing has baffled scientists, this storm has formed over the last few hours. Storms like this typically take days to full form and they form in the middle of the ocean when various wind pressures mix due to changing temperatures. There were no patterns to indicate something like this would happen,_ the screen changed to show a map, _as you can see the storm has formed in the North Atlantic Ocean and has a trajectory to be in the Lower New York Bay by nightfall. We urge all citizens to stay inside. Bring any loose furniture inside, board up your windows if possible. With how quickly this storm formed we aren’t sure how strong it will be when it reaches our shores._

Peter was staring, mouth slightly agap. “El, it’s happening. Neal… he… oh god, this is it and I can’t do anything but watch a stupid storm form in the ocean.” El didn’t say anything, instead she stood up and putting an arm around her husband’s back they stood in silence and watched the weather report.

…

Peter didn’t sleep that night, to be fare most of the New York and New Jersey area didn’t either, but they were awake worried about the storm while Peter was worried about his friend stuck in the middle of it. He dragged himself into the office that morning, he was tempted to call out sick but he hadn’t called out sick a single day since he had started at White Collar and one sleepless night was not going to be the cause of loosing that perfect record, that and he would go crazy if he sat and watched the news all day. There was nothing he could do to help Neal right now, so he might as well try to help someone by making progress on a case.

Of course, when he got into the office everyone was standing around a television in the conference room watching the weather channel. Jones handed him a cup of coffee when he walked in, “This is crazy,” he shook his head, “scientists are saying they can’t figure out where it started and they aren’t sure why it is moving like that. I’m glad tho, I was watching it last night, and it was moving fast towards us. Then it moved in the opposite direction. It’s like it’s not a storm.”

Peter didn’t really know how to reply to this, so he just nodded and took a large gulp of coffee. He made eye contact with Dianna, she walked over towards him.

“Hey boss, you have a second?”

Peter nodded, swallowing his coffee. He let out a small gasp as it burned his throat on the way down. When they were in his office, door closed, Dianna spoke. Not wasting any time with small talk, “is this Neal? Do you know if he’s coming back?”

Peter shook his head, “I don’t know anything more than what I told you last week, as far as I know this is him. As far as I can assume, he is still alive and fighting to keep the aftermath of the fight away from New York. Jones told me the storm was moving quickly towards land and then moved back away. Sounds like the eb and flow of a battle if you ask me.”


	5. chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Tuesday morning rolled around, Peter turned on the news to see the same young weather man standing on a busy New York Street, _almost as soon as it formed the storm that kept us on our toes Sunday night resolved itself late Monday night,_ an animated clip of the storm showed on the screen with a time stamp on the bottom right-hand side. Sure enough, the storm disappeared in a matter of hours, a matter of seconds in the high-speed animation. The storm was raging strong at 10pm last night when Peter had finally forced himself to turn off the news, by 2am the sea was calm as if there never was a storm in the first place. Peter walked away from the TV, opening his laptop he launched Neal’s tracking data. The dot blinked in the same place it had before, frozen in place from when Peter last saw Neal. He wanted to call Neal, but he didn’t know what had gone down yet, he wanted to give Neal time to process everything if he had lost Dom again. The idea floated to the front of his head that Neal was lost at sea, causality of the battle, but he forced that thought to the back of his head. He couldn’t think like that, not yet.

He made himself go through his morning routine, he flipped the coffee pot on and grabbed a bowl of cereal. He was grabbing a spoon and about to walk back to his laptop when he heard El gasp. “Hun! Neal’s tracker moved!”

Peter almost dropped his bowl, he rushed over to his laptop, rewinding the time stamp by 5 minutes he watched the dot jump across the room. Mozzie had flipped the switch when Neal was standing by the kitchen table, in the middle of the apartment. The dot jumped and was now on the right side of the screen. Peter’s joy soured instantly to dread, it jumped to where Neal’s bed was. _They just fought with a god for almost 2 days, they are probably tired… but what if…. what if something happened._ Peter could feel his heart in his stomach. He had to get over there. He had to make sure Neal was okay.

…

Peter stood still outside Neal’s door, frozen out of fear of what was on the other side. He didn’t know how long he was standing there, suddenly he wasn’t alone. Mozzie stood next to him,

“scared about what we’ll find on the other side of that door suit?”

Peter couldn’t speak, he was scared speaking would make his fears come true. Instead, he only nodded. They stood in solidarity for another minute, holding onto the life they knew a week ago for one second longer. Mozzie’s curiosity won out and he reached in front of Peter and opened the door. The door creaked open, it we deathly silent when the two mortals stepped in. No movement as far as Peter could tell, he took a deep breath and forced himself to look towards where Neal’s blinking red dot had jumped too.

The relief he felt in that moment could never be put into words. Now in Peter and Mozzie’s view were four demigods, clearly exhausted, all deep asleep, but alive. Neal and Dom intertwined on Neal’s bed while Percy and Annabeth holding each other curled up on Neal’s couch. Peter heard Mozzie let out a sigh of relief before turning towards Peter, “Well suite, they did it. I don’t know how, but for now knowing they did it is enough. I’m going to go pick up coffee, want one?”

…

Peter couldn’t bring himself to leave, he set his laptop and is ‘working form home’. Of course, Dianna knows the truth and understands Peter wants to be there when Neal wakes up. He wants to know what happened. Mozzie came back with breakfast and they sat in silence the rest of the morning, Mozzie putting his focus into a book of codes while Peter tried to make sense of the most recent mortgage fraud cause. Lunch time came and passed, Elizabeth brought food and joined their vigil. The sun was staring to sink below the buildings when Percy started to sir. He nudged Annabeth awake. They said nothing as they wearily made their way into the kitchen. They slowly say down, all eyes on them. Percy spoke first, “how long have you been here?”

Peter answered, “I saw Neal’s tracker off the loop, Mozzie and I came around 9am, El came at lunch time.”

Percy nodded, “sorry we took so long. We’ve had a long couple of days” he looked over the Neal and Dom. Annabeth reached over, she put her hand on his shoulder. Something happened, something they haven’t said outload yet. 

El got up and got them both water and put together a small plate of food from what was still good in Neal’s fridge. It was clear they didn’t want to talk about it yet.

A few hours later they heard movement form the bed, Peter was the first to look over. He found himself disappointed as Dom woke up not Neal. Dom sat up slowly, acknowledging everyone in the kitchen with a nod before turning his attention back to Neal, who still lay unmoving in the bed next to Dom. Peter couldn’t help but twist his face in confusion, _what had happened_. 

Percy found his voice and clearing his throat launched into the story, Dom looked up occasionally throughout Percy’s retelling of their battle but never left Neal’s side. Dom’s right hand holding onto Neal as if he was scared, he would disappear without him knowing, his left hand gently tracing patterns on Neal’s arms and chest. Peter watched them as Percy spoke:

“We put word out to Hades Thursday morning. We were hoping he would come alone and unarmed so that we could talk. We heard nothing for days. We were like sitting ducks waiting for Hades to show up, but there was nothing to do besides wait. On Saturday we got word from Hermes that Hades would be coming to meet us Sunday night. We were told he would come alone, but we didn’t know if he was coming to fight or talk. Hades isn’t the calmest god, ruling the underworld will do that to a guy, I guess. When he showed up on Sunday at sunset, he was angry, really angry. He felt betrayed that Dom had left him, be blamed Neal for Dom not being content in the underworld. I guess he figured that if he killed Neal, Dom would happily go back to the underworld. He threw everything he had at Neal, Dom of course putting himself between Neal and his father best he could. He did everything he could to keep Neal safe. Neal took quite a few hits tho, he’s lucky to be alive. The vengeance of a god is nothing to walk away from. We lead Hades all over the sea, he almost got out of control once, almost took the fight to the New Jersey shore line but Poseidon helped his direct him back to sea. Eventually Hades lost steam, he saw that Dom was willing to die to save Neal and I don’t know maybe it warmed he heart, or he realized Dom wouldn’t be happy stuck in the underworld not really living. Hades just kinda stopped fighting us, him and Dom talked and well Hades just left….”

Percy trailed off, like he hadn’t quite processed the ending of this story either, Dom spoke next.

“My dad has a soul, contrary to popular belief. I don’t know how I got to him but I did. I have to visit a few times a year, important holidays and such but..” a single tear fell down his cheek, he didn’t whip it off letting it fall on Neal’s cheek, “I get my life back, I get Neal back. Neal gets to keep the life he bult here. We did it, we did it” his voice was almost a whisper when he was done speaking.

Neal woke a few hours later, overjoyed that he was surrounded by his family. His new family and his old family. He finally had everything he ever wanted. He had his life he built with Peter and the possibilities of the life he could build with Dom.

He had the damn dream with a tracking anklet.

_fin_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you enjoyed!   
> i get these ideas stuck in my head and have to write them down, figured i would share :)


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